A Simple Favor

“She's an enigma my wife. You can get close to her, but you never quite reach her. She's like a, beautiful ghost.”

Filmology Rating: 2.75 out of 4

A Simple Favor is directed by Paul Feig who is infamous for Ghostbusters 2016 and stars Anna Kendrick in something that isn't Pitch Perfect. She plays a mother who becomes friends with Emily, a very odd wife/mother. Upon Emily's mysterious disappearance, Stephanie (Anna Kendrick), starts digging into Emily's strange past to confirm what the audience is already thinking.

I was very intrigued by this film from its trailer. It seemed like a neat premise and I was curious what was to happen. The first two acts were mysterious, shocking, and engaging. Then the third act came along and took a giant dump on the carpet. The first act I really liked because it introduced the everyday lives of our interesting and well written characters who had very fun and witty dialogue that fit their given characters. Once Emily disappears, Stephanie and the audience, wonder what happened. We as the audience start to craft our own predictions and I was locked in. Once the Third act started, exposition is shoveled out to the audience in about 15 minutes of flashbacks. It also did nothing interesting with the twist, it just became exactly what you thought it was.

I also found Paul Feig's terrible sense of comedy sprinkled in this film. This film set a somewhat serious tone, but at some very inappropriate times, the film displays some very dumb, drawn-out bits that I'm sure Paul Feig loved. Specific humor from your terrible Ghostbusters film, should not be in your serious drama, Mr. Feig.

There is also a group of parents in this film that I will simply called "the chorus." Because just like a play, these parents (chorus) comment on what's happening in the film and give their opinions on certain situations, usually accompanied by a dumb joke. It felt horribly out of place, just like the ending of the film that felt straight out of a stupid comedy. The writer went, "How do I end this? Ehh whatever." It was incredibly dumb.

I would also like to bring up a point to the author of this book that the film is based on. This story has a very similar premise to another book to film adaptation from 1944 called Double Indemnity. It's not the same story or plot, but the idea is very similar.

Rating: Rent It

-Nolan